Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity by Mario Morino urges all nonprofits to “manage to outcomes,” and provides advice on how to do it. A nonprofit that manages to outcomes asks itself “To what end?” when analyzing its mission and results; it defines goals, measures how it’s doing, and manages accordingly. Leap of Reason urges funders to support (even demand) that management.
Mr. Morino believes that today’s tough economic times for both funders and nonprofits are a perfect time to focus and clarify the outcomes nonprofits are seeking to provide for those they serve. He comments “It’s no longer good enough to make the case that we’re addressing real needs. We need to prove that we’re making a real difference.”
He challenges the nonprofit sector as a whole. He takes nonprofit leaders to task for not managing well, commenting that the vast majority of nonprofits have no reliable way to know whether where they stand on delivering what they promise to those they serve.
Responding to potential concerns that this management work is beyond the capability of smaller organizations, he states:
Even small nonprofits should be expected to understand, with at least some level of rigor, what outcomes they would like to achieve, what produces positive results for those they serve, and how they might begin to assess outcomes as they grow larger. And boards should demand this conversation.
He proposes voluntary reporting of outcomes information, which could be as simple as
- Brief descriptions of intended outcomes, methodology and anticipated timing.
- Numbers of individuals served where the outcomes were achieved as well as numbers where progress was achieved.
- Estimated average cost to produce the outcomes.
And he takes funders to task for not supporting the overhead costs of managing well, instead insisting that their funding be used exclusively for program costs.
Mario Morino is co-founder and chairman of Venture Philanthropy Partners (described as a philanthropic-investment organization) and chairman of the Morino Institute. See www.leapofreason.org and www.vppartners.org for more information.
